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Exposed Fuel Rods at Japanese Nuclear Power Plant; What Happens During Nuclear Reactor Shutdown?; U.S. Earthquake Threat; Reporter Lives Through Quake; U.S. Search Teams In Quake Zone; Talk Back Question

Aired March 14, 2011 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed on the disaster in Japan.

A second explosion at one of the country's nuclear power plants is adding to concerns about possible radiation exposure. The Kyodo News agency is reporting that the fuel rods at the plant are exposed. Now, if that's confirmed, it means the core of the reactor could be in danger of melting.

This video shows the moment of disaster, homes being washed away by the tsunami. And in the left corner of your screen, you can see people literally running for their lives. Our Kyung Lah reports that many are now at emergency shelters with little more than the clothes on their backs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of these folks are just trying to get by day by day. They're also trying to figure out exactly where the missing are.

There's a message board here, and people are writing messages, "Have you seen my father?" "Here I am."

There are all these messages, and it goes down an entire hallway. People trying to reach each other. And because mobile phone connections are really difficult here, there are very few cells that are reliable where you can reach anyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The devastation is immense, but we are also hearing reports and getting new pictures of survival stories. In one instance, searchers pulled elderly survivors from a mangled car you can see there. Others describe being rescued after the quake and tsunami hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): A tsunami hit us. I grabbed something tightly, holding my daughter's hand, but I lost my grip and I was swept away in the debris and water. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I felt so cold in the water, I tried to get out. My trousers got caught by something in the lobby.

Fortunately, I saw there were people still inside the building. I cried out for help. I thought I was dying when I was pushed into the water, but my thoughts were focused on my family. I decided to make every effort to survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: President Obama is promising U.S. assistance to the Japanese people. Two search and rescue teams from the U.S. arrived today in one of the cities hit hardest by the earthquake. The team is made up of 150 people and 12 canines trained to find survivors.

Well, the markets are reacting to the disaster in Japan. Stocks opened lower today after Japan's Nikkei sank six percent. The Dow Jones, down by 116 points or so.

Keeping a close eye on that as well.

More now also on the second explosion at one of Japan's crippled nuclear plants. Japanese officials say that the blast did not damage the reactor, but now we are hearing that the fuel rods are exposed.

Our CNN's Stan Grant is tracking developments for us to explain what that means. He is live from Tokyo.

Stan, give us a sense, what does this mean about this explosion and about this report of exposed fuel rods?

STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been an extraordinary day, really, Suzanne. We have had developments throughout the hour. You know, we're into the fourth day now of this nuclear emergency, and they're still grappling to deal with these overheating reactors.

Now, here's what happened today.

There was this explosion, but it was a hydrogen explosion as a result of releasing some of the steam, the pressure from the number three reactor. Now, that blew a hole in an outer wall and also the roof. But officials have been very quick to point out that it did not affect the reactor itself.

What it did do though is that it knocked out the coolant to the number two reactor. So we're talking about three reactors now, one, two and three, all now struggling to stay cool.

This has been exacerbated throughout the day. At one point, they were pumping seawater into these reactors to try to cool them. And then the fuel pump ran out of fuel and was no longer able to pump that seawater. That was as a result of human error.

They got that going again, but now just in the last hour, we have heard yet another development. The valve that lets some of the steam out of that reactor to release the pressure got stuck, which meant that the water was turning into steam and the level once again was dropping. So, for a second time, at the number two reactor, we had the situation where the fuel rod is being exposed.

Now, let me talk to you again about the radiation levels, because as you release steam, you also release a degree of radiation, radioactive material, into the atmosphere. Now, this is at the gate of the plant itself. Let me just run through these numbers for you.

At 9:35, it was measuring 760 microseconds (ph). By 9;37, two minutes later, 3,130. That's the highest level it has been so far.

But then, by 10:15, it had dropped to 400. That's how quickly these particles, this radioactive material can dissipate.

So it has been an extraordinary day, a day of explosions, a day of fuel rods being exposed, more concern about potential meltdown in these reactors, and more dispersal of these radioactive materials -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Stan, so two quick questions for you here.

Exposed fuel rods, why is that dangerous? Real quick.

GRANT: Exposed fuel rods means that not enough water is in there, it can overheat, and then it can degenerate. If you imagine you've got a kettle, inside that kettle is an element, there is water. The water drops, the element is exposed, it can burn. It's the same thing with the reactor -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And second question, it sounds like you've got valleys and peaks here when it comes to radiation levels. Do we have any sense at all if it's a dangerous radiation level to anybody who's around the plant?

GRANT: Now, bearing in mind there's a 20 kilometer, 12-or-13- mile exclusion zone, 200,000 people have been evacuated. So they have got people out of the immediate vicinity.

Also, officials have been quick to stress that while these levels do go up and down, they are still -- and they are higher than normal -- they are still at a level that is not dangerous to humans. And as I just pointed out there, it peaked very quickly, but then it dropped just as quickly. They say that's the situation here, it doesn't escape out too much into the atmosphere -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you very much, Stan, for clarifying that for us. Really appreciate that.

This is your chance to "Talk Back" about the disaster in Japan and its possible impact on the nuclear industry here in this country.

Our Carol Costello is here with the "Talk Back" question.

Carol, you said in the last segment, I mean, you're getting so many people responding to this so quickly.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are really concerned about this issue. I mean, images of what happened after Chernobyl, after Three Mile Island, they are vivid again because of what's happening now in Japan.

Let's face it, when you hear about possible nuclear meltdown, mass evacuations, and iodine tablets, it scares you. Maybe that's because we have 104 nuclear plants in this country, 23 of them designed just like the damaged plants in Japan. You can't help but ask, could it happen here?

Democratic Congressman Edward Markey is asking that very question. He's calling for a moratorium on new nuclear reactors in seismically-active areas in light of the events in Japan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We just have to call a timeout and examine whether or not those safety features which are going to be necessary in the future are built into new nuclear power plants in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But Republican Senator Mitch McConnell disagrees. He says we should not make domestic policy decisions right after a major environmental disaster like the Obama administration's restrictions on drilling after the BP oil spill. With gas nearing $4 a gallon, Republicans are still needling the president on that one.

But, before we get too political, "Talk Back." Should the United States hold off on new construction of nuclear plants?

Send your comments to Facebook.com/CarolCNN. And I will read your comments later this hour.

MALVEAUX: I have a feeling it's going to get political, too, Carol. You're going to get some political responses on this one.

COSTELLO: Yes. As the week wears on, I'm sure it's going to get very political in Washington about this issue as well.

MALVEAUX: Yes. All right. Thank you, Carol. Appreciate it.

COSTELLO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Well, here is what's ahead "On the Rundown."

We're going to tell you what it means when a nuclear reactor is melting down.

Also, the likelihood of a quake the power of Japan's striking here in the United States, what that means for U.S. nuclear power plants.

And a story of survival. An American working at that Japanese nuclear plant when the tsunami hit is now coming home.

Plus, an iReporter literally captures the earth actual cracking when the quake hit.

I want you to take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have earthquake right now. And this is actually moving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It turns out the entire Earth was actually knocked off it's axis by this powerful quake. We're going to explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON KARZMAR, PHYSICIST, ENGINEER: They need power. The whole control room is powered up. And I don't know whether they lost power to the whole control room or not. Supposedly, they had battery backups. They generally have on-site electrical generation.

But what happened with that tsunami, I have no idea. I mean, we never anticipated a tsunami. At least I didn't do the design, so I can only tell you how the controls work. And you need power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That was Ron Karzmar, and he knows the nuclear reactors we've been talking about better than most. He helped develop and manufacture all of the control panels and nuclear sensors inside that plant about 40 years ago.

I want to bring in Chad Myers to explain what actually happens here when a nuclear reactor shuts down.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, to put some people's fear at a little bit of a lesser state, any newer nuclear reactor that shuts down goes down all by itself, and it cools down all by itself. Its own reaction -- you could literally take all the people in the control room and walk them away, and the reactor will cool down all by itself.

This one, being started in 1967, finished in 1971, did not have that capability. I even talked to some engineers. I said, "Couldn't you just retrofit that?" And they go, "There's just no possible way." There's no possible way to retrofit this.

A series of things went wrong. There's no question that not just one thing went wrong, but many, many things went wrong for this to get to this point.

First of all, the earthquake stopped the reactors, they shut down automatically. The tsunami shut down what were 13 separate generators to make power to pump pumps that would pump water to this thing, or these reactors -- there are three of them are running. All 13 of those failed because of the water coming over the top.

Then they had battery backup, but there was only eight hours worth of battery. They shipped in batteries as fast as they could, and everything was just fine until today, when a pump that they were using that was fueled with gas or diesel, I don't know, but the pump was pumping seawater into the reactor. Number two, it ran out of gas.

What is going on? So as it ran out of gas, the water stopped pumping, it stopped cooling itself, and the partial meltdown happened.

This is a boiling water reactor. Kind of first-generation reactor. We don't make these -- too many of them anymore, if they even make them at all. I don't believe that they do.

But the water comes in from the ocean, it cools the very hot steam that is created by the reactor itself. Even if you have a coal- fired plant, they burn coal to boil water, the water boils into steam and to pressure, the pressure turns a generator, the generator makes power, and it goes to your house.

We're not burning coal here. We're literally burning uranium 235.

And so, as it burns, as it heats up, the water steams, it turns the generator, it comes back down. It's cooled by the water here. It comes back in and it goes around again.

It goes around and around and around and it never stops, unless you have an earthquake and a tsunami. Then it stops.

This pump, this water coming in here, stopped. So, therefore, everything else in here stopped.

The reactor stopped as well. The reaction stopped, but there's all this residual heat that could take, from what I heard from Glenn (ph), my professor up at Georgia Tech, could take 100 days for these rods to literally cool down. A hundred days, three months. And they lost water to this thing three days into it.

So they have to keep pumping seawater. Forget all about this. This doesn't even exist anymore.

They have taken it and they've pumped seawater in here just to try to cool down the rods. Well, it eventually boils all that water away and they release it. That's what happened when that one reactor blew up. It wasn't a nuclear reaction, but it was the hydrogen up here.

So they keep pumping in seawater, seawater, but it keeps boiling it out. So they have to keep pumping it in. And if we have to do this for three months before these rods actually cool down, none of this is going to occur anymore.

This is a dead reaction. These reactors are never going to come back on line.

MALVEAUX: So what does that mean for a meltdown?

MYERS: Oh, I didn't even get to that yet.

MALVEAUX: Real quick, Chad, if you can.

MYERS: When water is not around the reactor, it's like trying to run your car without radiator fluid. Eventually, your engine is going to melt down because it can't be cooled.

The reactor rods will melt down because they're not being cooled. The meltdown will make a huge reaction. It's like taking a microwave popcorn bag. Instead of going, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, exploding all of those microwave popcorn kernels at the same time, boom, and then the radiation comes out.

Can it be contained in the vessel? Well, we never got to that point. Don't know that.

MALVEAUX: All right, Chad. Thank you. That helps me though to understand it, how it all works. Appreciate it.

MYERS: I'll make you some popcorn.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Not the big kind, just pop by pop.

MYERS: Right, controlled.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: Controlled pop.

Well, offers of aid to Japan are pouring in from around the world. Our CNN's Carl Azuz, he's going to break down some of the unique ways that the world is helping.

So, Carl, everybody seems to be participating. It's pouring in from all over the place. Yes?

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: And in unique ways as well, Suzanne.

I mean, you hit the nail on the head when you said "unique." Some of the things we're seeing here, there was an L.A. Fire Department official who said this disaster in Japan was part Katrina for the flooding, part Christchurch New Zealand for the earthquake, and the rescuers headed there are also taking lessons learned from Haiti to try to solve some of the problems Japan is facing.

I want to start with the dogs. Dogs are headed from South Korea, given a nation very close, but from as far away as Britain and Germany. And those dogs are specially trained to be able to differentiate between survivors and dead bodies. So hopefully they'll be able to help in the rescue effort.

Something else on the way, clinics for medical care, mobile clinics. They can be set up, torn down really quickly. One challenge for them is getting fresh water, and they're working at evacuation shelters to get help to those who need it.

Another thing coming in, nuclear specialists. By this, I just don't mean people who have experience with those reactors and helping fix those if they can be fixed, but also people who are experts in containing radioactive material. They're going to be needed.

Another thing coming in, telecommunications equipment. We talked about how the power has failed in so many places. Backup generators are being brought in, also phone towers to try to get loved ones in touch with one another, restore phone service.

And finally, one other thing, debris-clearing machinery. By this, I mean heavy duty equipment, Suzanne, stuff that's able to lift houses off people who are trapped, for instance, or cut through concrete, cut through this unbelievable wreckage we've seen to save people.

MALVEAUX: Wow. That's amazing.

How many countries are involved? How many organizations are you seeing?

AZUZ: There are several organizations. We have seen the International Red Cross on the ground there; Doctors Without Borders; Save the Children.

As far as countries, the numbers we keep hearing is 70. At least 70 countries offering aid to Japan.

And the one challenge Japan has with all of these officers of aid is there's still so much destruction, there's a bit of confusion. They're not sure who needs what, where. So the Japanese government, in addition to trying to rescue survivors, is trying to determine where that help can be most effective so that when they accept help from nations, they'll know where it's best utilized.

MALVEAUX: All right. Carl, I know we're going to talk with you after the break here, because help is even pouring in from a nation that has long held Japan as a rival. And we're talking about China. We're going to dissect that complicated relationship.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Aid is pouring in from the international community after the massive earthquake and tsunami, and Japan now has a new unlikely ally. That is China.

Our Carl Azuz is back to discuss -- I guess this is a surprisingly neighborly response here, but we know that these two countries really have not seen eye to eye for quite some time.

Why do you suppose the switch here?

AZUZ: Well, it's due in part to the fact that China recently had its own earthquake not too long ago, and Japan helped out with that. These two countries have had an antagonistic relationship for decades. But as I mentioned, the Chinese had a tragedy of their own, 6.9 magnitude quake hitting last year.

That left thousands of people dead. And that was when Japan stepped in, quick to send aid and rescue workers to help China. So what your seeing is two nations overcoming their differences, for now, at least, to kind of help lift each other out of very similar natural disasters.

MALVEAUX: What kind of aid are we seeing coming from China? Is it significant?

AZUZ: Yes, I would say so. I mean, for one thing, the China premier, Wen Jiabao, first started by expressing deep condolences to the Japanese people after the quake. But he took action.

He sent a 15-member rescue team to a Japanese city severely damaged by the earthquake. China is also helping out with telecommunications materials I mentioned a little while ago. And these gestures of friendship are occurring despite more than 80 years of national rivalry.

There's been deeply-held anti-Japanese sentiment in China since Japan's invasion and occupation during the 1930s in World War II. And that rivalry, still very much apparent just six months ago, after the two nations sparred in a territorial dispute.

That was over the Pinnacle Islands in the East China Sea. This is the dead volcano in disputed waters. It's become a political battleground between China and Japan.

So there's no way of telling if this mutual respect we're seeing now is going to last, but it's certainly welcomed in the middle of the tragedy unfolding right now, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: It certainly is welcomed. It's good to see, you know, rivals can get together in times of crises. And hopefully, you know, maybe after the crisis is over as well.

AZUZ: Here's hoping.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carl.

AZUZ: Thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: A reminder that our viewers too can help Japan by going to CNN.com/impact.

Well, could something like Japan's disaster actually happen here in the United States? Some U.S. nuclear power plants are close to earthquake fault zones. We're going to talk about that with an expert.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a look at what's ahead "On the Rundown."

The disaster in Japan raising some concerns now about the earthquake threat here in the United States.

Also, the quake, so intense that it not only cracked the ground, it shifted the Earth.

Plus, a view of the disaster from a Japanese reporter who lived through it.

And finally, a woman whose husband survived the tsunami and is now heading home.

Well, Japan's magnitude 8.9 quake was the strongest the country has ever recorded. What is the likelihood that that kind of devastating quake could occur here, in this country?

I want you to take a look at this map from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The parts in red are the highest hazard areas, the areas most vulnerable to a devastating earthquake. You can see it there. Most of the red is right over in California.

Joining me is Zhigang Peng. He is a scientist who studies earthquakes at Georgia Tech.

We saw -- thank you for being here this afternoon.

ZHIGANG PENG, GEORGIA TECH PROFESSOR: My pleasure.

MALVEAUX: I want to show you, because we saw back in California -- this was 1989 or so -- when it caused major damage to San Francisco, Los Angeles, several earthquakes that had hit in a certain period of time.

Why do we know that California is particularly at risk?

PENG: Yes. The reason why California is so dangerous is because there is an active fault line there which is known as the San Andreas Fault. So, basically, there are two major plates that were kind of grinding past each other. And so because of that tectonic movement, several major earthquakes occur. You know, I mean, the history of California.

MALVEAUX: People have been predicting the big one for a long time now.

PENG: Right.

MALVEAUX: Do we have a sense at all of the timetable, when it might actually hit California? PENG: Well, that's a good question, but at this point, we cannot accurately predict exactly when and where future earthquakes are going to happen. But there are recent studies that have been conducted that's indicating that in the next 30 years, there will be -- let's say the percentage of having the magnitude 6.7 and above earthquake in California is almost more than 90 percent. So that basically means that there's almost guarantee there will be an earthquake of that size in California in the next 30 years.

MALVEAUX: Next 30 years.

PENG: Yes.

MALVEAUX: So people do have some time to prepare. What we saw in Japan was that the structures, they had been built in such a way that the big, big buildings, we saw them sway, but they didn't topple over, that they can sustain that type of energy and that type of force in a crisis like that.

When you take a look at the preparation that we have made in California, is that true? Is it the same?

PENG: Yes, basically in terms of the structure and buildings that California has almost the world's most strict building codes. So, I think in terms of that, like, basically they are already taking into account the worst-case scenario in California would be a magnitude type 8 earthquake that would occur. And I think that in terms of the building itself, that most buildings should be built up to the standard.

MALVEUAX: Should we be concerned when we see what happens in Japan and we know that this is something that is similar, that could happen in the next 30 years in California?

PENG: That's a good question. Well, what I would do is actually, we should zoom out of California for now. The reason is because most of California's earthquakes are (INAUDIBLE). So in this case, like I said, the maximum size is about magnitude 8.

But if you zoom out and look at earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest, mainly in the -- off the coast of Oregon and Washington. Over there, there was a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that occurred almost 300 years ago. It was a magnitude 9, and that earthquake created a big tsunami and actually caused people to die in Japan. So, in that case, exactly -- a similar case could happen in the United States, but not in California. But rather, we should zoom out and talk about the Pacific Northwest.

MALVEAUX: So we should not just be concerned about just California, but other states as well?

PENG: Well, yes. That's the main message here is that the hazard not only occurs in California. It also occurs in other places. If you zoom out again, in central and eastern U.S., there's certain portions that is red that earthquakes have occurred in those region as well. MALVEAUX: OK, Professor. We will get back to you to talk a little bit more about this.

We have seen the fault lines and the major areas of concern. We want to add to that, the nuclear facilities that are here in the United States. Here's a picture from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission of where all the nuclear plants are located in the United States. There are more than 100.

Which gets us to our next question. How ready or prepared are the nuclear facilities here in the United States? We want to talk about that as well, and we want to make sure we get a good perspective on this. Nils Diaz is joining us. And are the U.S facilities, when you look at them, as prepared for major earthquake or natural disaster?

NILS DIAZ, FORMER NUCLEAR REGULATOR COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: I think we are very well prepared. For a long time, we have taken the threat of earthquakes or external events very seriously.

And the reality is that after 9/11, we took a more in-depth look at what could go wrong and what we needed to do. And serious programs were established that added layers of safety, layers of preparedness of safety already existed.

We also need to realize that really, Japan got hit by a triple whammy. They got hit by the earthquake, the tsunami and the fact that being an island nation, many of the resources that they could bring to bear into the problem were handicapped, were not possible to move them. While in the United States, we are very fortunate to have significant resources deploy in a manner that we can get to these plants and get to the places where needed. And we will have the time and the resources to do a very good job in preventing, you know, any kind of problems.

MALVEAUX: Sure. Mr. Diaz, one thing that concerns me when you take a look at the map and you see the age of a lot of these nuclear facilities, they're quite old. Anywhere from 35 or 40 years old. And the lifetime of a nuclear facility, from what experts tell us, really, about 45-plus, and then you don't really want to rely on those anymore.

Are facilities really too old when it comes to a disaster? I mean, a lot of those, when you look at the map there, the blue and the green, it looks like they're on their last leg.

DIAZ: Well, not really. This 40-year design life was something that was established only as part of the law. Most of the nuclear power plants in the United States have been relicensed or get a license extension for 20 years.

And that is an exhaustive process that actually is great. It actually renovates these power plants, changes the equipment that is all checks -- everything that needs to be checked, very, very extensive, open and transparent process to the public. I believe the 62 of the 104 nuclear power plants have already undergone this process, and probably the rest of them will be doing the same over the next few years.

So, I do expect to see them renovated, refurbished and ready to go because they are in very good shape, and we make sure that they continue to be so.

MALVEAUX: All right. That is good news, we appreciate that, that there is some good news here and that there's some preparation and that we are ready potentially to see what happens for the next major earthquake in California and the rest of the United States in those nuclear facilities. Thank you very much Professor, we appreciate your time.

Well, have you ever seen the earth move? People who lived through this earthquake in Japan have been sending us incredible video. You won't believe what it did to the earth's axis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we have an earthquake right now. And this is actually moving. Can you see the cracks moving? That crack was not there. Whole earth is moving. I felt like I was drunk. I could see different parts. Wow, that was water just coming up right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It's just unbelievable video. Not only are we seeing the earth move, but we also hear this earthquake tsunami actual moved the entire main island of Japan. Chad, is that correct?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It moved it closer to the U.S. by eight feet.

MALVEAUX: You're kidding.

MYERS: No, it actually just -- you know, from fifth grade class, plates across the world are all shifting. Right? They're all moving. We're still moving. At one point in time, the United States was bumped up against Europe. But now the Atlantic Ocean keeps getting bigger. The Pacific Ocean keeps getting smaller.

The Pacific Ocean actually moves into -- and I know this doesn't take any sense, but trust me, it's correct. This is the North American Plate that actually attaches to North America way up here.

So, the Pacific plate moves into the plate that is over, under Japan at about three inches a year. That pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, eventually said, OK, I'm not going to be three inches anymore, I'm going to jump. And it jumped to the east. The entire island jumped to the east by eight feet. It also shifted the axis of the earth by four inches.

Okay 24,000 miles around. Four inches doesn't seem like much. But we know that now because of GPS and all the other measurements we can do. Amazing.

MALVEAUX: Amazing. Thank you, Chad. Appreciate that.

More coverage of the disaster in Japan. We're going to hear from one Japanese reporter who actually lived through it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via translator): This was a place where houses lined up before the tsunami. There's nothing here; it's all reduced to ruins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Want to give you a look at the disaster in Japan from the perspective of a Japanese reporter who lived through it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via translator): This is Ogasu Bay in Miyagi prefecture. I was covering scallop growers from two days before the earthquake.

The earthquake occurred suddenly. Immediately after we ended the interview, we were struck by an immense jolt. We could not stay standing.

(SOUND OF SIRENS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via translator): Local people urged us to flee because the tsunami will be coming, and we rose to a higher place. We saw a rapid rise of the water levels at sea. And at 3:20 p.m., tsunami started flooding into the town, surpassing the break water. Houses are washed away. This is really an immense impact. The whole houses, the whole town is moving.

After the quake occurred, it only took 30 minutes before the whole town was engulfed. Together with the residents who were in the place where I was covering footage, I spent my days evacuating. We shared a small amount of food. And we also barbecued scallop and oyster.

This woman said that somebody shouted that tsunami is coming. And it was really just an instant. Yes, it all took place in an instant.

And this man says, we went inside the building and there were people who were washed away. And my parents were also washed away. I can't get in touch with -- we're very worried.

Even after dark, you could see the sound of tsunami gushing in. We spent two nights with the local residents. And on Sunday morning, because the tsunami warning was downgraded to advisory, we went down from the hills together with local residents to the central part of the town. This was a place where houses lined up before the tsunami. There's nothing here. It's all reduced to ruins.

And on top of the three story building, there was a bus that was washed ashore from tsunami. You could see the bus on the building. On top of an elementary school, you can see a house that drifted.

How could this place return to its original sight? We really couldn't see how we really could restore the area.

It cannot be helped. Those who survived must help each other. I lost everything in an instant. I could save my life. I'm alive, but I don't know if it's good or bad. I don't know if it's good or bad that I survived.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: The Japan earthquake tsunami damaged three nuclear power plants. And you've been sounding off on our "Talk Back" question, should the United States hold off a new construction of power plants, nuclear plants? Well, Ian Roy says, "absolutely not. Nuclear is way better than inefficient wind power." We're going to have more of your responses up ahead, including yours, Justin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Rescue crews in rafts and boats are making their way through Japan's devastated towns. They're looking for survivors in the areas that are hardest hit by the tsunami. The country's prime minister says about 12,000 people have been rescued so far.

Well, two search and rescue teams from the U.S. are now joining in that effort. They arrived today in one of the coastal cities near the epicenter of the earthquake. And that is where our Brian Todd is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brian Todd, just outside the city of Ofanato (ph), northeast of Sendai. A very hard hit city along the coast. We are with urban search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles County. They've just pulled into this area after a long convoy, about seven hours from the north of Japan, to get all of their supplies and equipment and personnel in place to fan out in the city of Ofanato. They're going to be doing that in the coming hours.

These teams bring some unique capabilities with them. They have got eight inflatable boats for swift water rescues if those becomes necessary. They've got 12 canine teams that can swarm in and over rubble and detect the scent of surviving humans. Once they detect that, they've got listening devices, cameras that they can lower into the rubble and try to find out where people might be encased in some void in the rubble where they can get to them. That will help them detect where people are. And then they've got jackhammers and heavy saws to cut through all of that and get to people.

They've got a good track record of finding survivors in these areas. They were deployed in New Zealand. They were deployed in Haiti last year and had several successes in those operations. They have no illusions about the fact that a tsunami hit and that's going to make recovering survivors more difficult. But they are like horses at a starting gate after waiting three days to get their supplies in everything in here and moving at a very deliberate pace as fast as they could, but they are very, very eager to get on the ground in Ofanato, start fanning out in the coming hours and try to recover some victims alive.

Brian Todd, CNN, just outside Ofanato, Japan.

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MALVEAUX: Experts are focusing their attention on damaged nuclear power plants in Japan. And you've been telling us what you think about that and what it could mean for nuclear energy here in the United States. Our Carol Costello, she's here with some of your responses in our "Talk Back" segment.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People do feel very strongly about this, Suzanne.

Congressman Edward Markey calling for a moratorium on new nuclear plants in like of what's happening in Japan. So, "Talk Back," should the United States hold off on new construction of nuclear plants?

This from Patrick. "We still drive cars even after pileups. We even get back on planes after airline crashes. We ride trains after train wrecks. Keep the plants open and let's not become paranoid."

This from Brandi. "This latest controversy, coupled with the Deepwater Horizon explosion less than a year ago, should clearly indicate that safer energy alternatives need to be aggressively pursued."

This from Vincent. "Yes, safety first. I would much rather have a field of solar panels in my neighborhood, than a nuclear reactor."

And this from Will. "No moratorium. Let's build, safer and better."

This from Justin. "We as a country should move forward with nuclear power. We need to do so with an understand of what areas in this country are geologically stable. Plan for the future. Be proactive not reactive."

Thank you for all of your responses today. And keep the conversation going, facebook.com/carolcnn.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Well, waiting without word for a husband on the missing list in Japan. Janie Eudy spent a miserable weekend in Louisiana and then she received a phone call from Tokyo.

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MALVEAUX: Janie Eudy tried to put on a brave face last Friday when she told me that her husband was among the missing in Japan. Well, she received some good news over the weekend and she called in from Louisiana this morning.

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JANIE EUDY, HUSBAND CAUGHT IN QUAKE (voice-over): After the newscast and all and we got with the representatives got back with me after that and we kept telling -- I kept telling them where they were at, the last conversation I got with him. They moved on their own to the little town of Awaki (ph). They got there. They (INAUDIBLE) going to get shelter and hotels and found out there wasn't anything there. The (INAUDIBLE) one of the reps (ph) got a bus and got everybody together so they wouldn't get separated. That's how they did it.

And they followed the coastal road all the way down to Tokyo (INAUDIBLE). What I understand, it was a treacherous ride and a rocky, mountainous ride there and the roads were, they said, back to back. There were long lines. It was, you know, but they made it. Thank God they made it to Tokyo. Once they got there, he told me the ground never quit shaking. The tremors were continuously -- and when he talked to me, he said the -- when the big one come and from there after, he said it sounded to him like the earth was moaning from these sounds he would hear.

MALVEAUX: Moaning. And, Janie, real quickly, if you can, what is the first thing you're going to do -- what are you going to say to your husband when you see him, when he arrives?

EUDY: I'm just want -- I want to give him a big, tight hug. Hopefully I just -- I want to just get him in my arms and let him know that, you know, I love him and I just can't wait to see him. With the not knowing, it's been so scary and I had one of the -- he was on the phone yesterday when I got to talk to him. One of the guys around him hollered through the line. Said my wife sends her thank you. She's been following the news and she knows where we were at and we were OK.

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MALVEAUX: Good news, Janie's husband Joe, he was working at that Japanese nuclear plant when the earthquake hit. Just one of the many inspirational stories of survival coming out of Japan.

Well, CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye